WPI Bests Men's Basketball, 70-52, In City Rivalry Matchup

Worcester, MA --- Senior Domenick Mastacusa (N. Reading, MA) netted a game-best 17 points with eight rebounds as he helped pace WPI to a 70-52 triumph over Worcester State in non-conference men's basketball action at Harrington Auditorium.

The Engineers, who are ranked #14 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, improve to 4-1 on the campaign while the Lancers fall to 1-3 on the young season.

Junior Zach Karalis (N. Andover, MA) hit five triples en-route to 15 points off the bench while senior Sam Longwell (Acton, MA) chipped in with 14 points and seven boards. Junior Aaron Davis (Marshfield, MA) did a little bit of everything with a six assists, four points, two rebounds and one swipe.

Senior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) paced the visitors with 13 points and four caroms and sophomore Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) pitched in with eight points and eight rebounds.

It was a battle for the rock throughout much of the early goings of the contest as the Lancers held the slim 12-6 advantage with 9:36 left in the opening stanza.

The Engineers though took control when Longwell and Mastacusa combined for 13 points to key an 18-7 spurt as the hosts took over the 24-19 edge six minutes later before settling for the 29-24 margin at the intermission.

WPI also sank eight of their nine field goal attempts, sparked by an sophomore Ian Converse (Woodstock, CT) jumper.

After starting off the second half with a 10-3 run, the Engineers went up into double digits and opened up a 39-27 lead with just under 15 minutes to play.

With the Crimson and Gray up 53-33 with 11:05 on the clock, the Lancers sliced into the deficit with a 10-2 surge and trailed 55-43 at the 8:25 mark. WSU hit four points at the charity stripe and sophomore Isaiah Tatum (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) hit a trifecta in the surge.

Karalis though had other plans for the hosts as he hit consecutive trey's to help the Engineers outscore the Blue and Gold 15-5 as WPI took over their largest margin of the contest at 70-48 with 4:04 left in regulation.

Worcester State never threatened while the Engineers defense limited the Lancers to just one field goal on six attempts the rest of the way.

The Boynton Hillers finished leading in rebounds (40-31), points in the paint (35-20), transition baskets (11-0) and points off of miscues (17-12) while also connecting for 48 percent from the field for the contest (26-for-54) – including at a torrid 56 percent clip in the second stanza alone (15-for-27).

After going 41 percent from the floor in the opening frame, Worcester State only drained 31 percent of their shots in the final period. The Lancers also canned just three of their 19 bids from beyond the arc and only half of their shots at the line (9-for-18).

Both teams are off until next week following the Thanksgiving holiday.  WPI heads to Tufts to take on the Jumbos at 7 PM on Wednesday, December 3th while the Lancers are back at it a day earlier at UMass Dartmouth at 7:30.